The Australian Index - Culture Blogs

The short film I shot back in May is now online - enjoy, and let me know what you think!

We're proud to be a media partner for Virtual Worlds London, which is being held on the 20th and 21st October 2008.I've seen the positive feedback from previous conferences run by the Virtual Worlds management crew and I'd expect this year's London event to be no different.As part of our role as media partner, Metaverse [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Virtual Worlds London", url: "http://www.met

After this he went out and saw a man named Levi at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, "Come along with me." And he did—walked away from everything and went with him. Levi gave a large dinner at his home for Jesus. Everybody was there, tax men and other disreputable characters as guests at the dinner. The Pharisees and their religion scholars came to his disciples greatly offended. "W

And the Garnaut report is expected to make the case for Australia to act urgently, even if big developing nations such as China and India do not.Inaction would in effect be a veto on action by poor nations, Professor Garnaut argues.The reason is that the existing global framework for dealing with climate change, the Kyoto [...]

The Abbey Road pedestrian crossing is instantly recognisible even without the Beatles walking across it.

It's just one of many landmarks around the world made famous by its use on an album cover.

My favourite magazine The Word has just launched their Album Atlas in beta.

It a fun and interesting Google maps musical mashup. Well worth a look if you're into music.

None of them have ever been implicated in a murder/cover-up before taking office.

If Najib does manage to become Prime Minister in spite of this latest revelation, I think I'd be 90 percent disgusted and 10 percent impressed that he pulled it off. Seriously, in any other democratic country his career would have been over years ago. Not to mention the fact that he'd actually go to jail. (And the b

BELINDA Neal's political career appears to be winding down after the Labor Party refused to preselect her for the 2010 Federal election.Chiefs at Labor's Sussex St headquarters have resolved to ensure Ms Neal is blocked from candidacy on the Central Coast seat of Robertson in the wake of the Iguanas-gate scandal, The Daily Telegraph reports.And [...]

With the support of the Labor Government, former Liberal foreign minister Alexander Downer is now likely to become the UN Special Envoy for Cyprus. Although not yet officially announce by the UN itself, Downer made the announcement himself from London where he is involved in private discussions about his future. The 56 year old South Australian said Australia has a humanitarian interest in a resol

A US man who was born a woman before undergoing gender reassignment surgery has given birth to a baby girl, US media reported today.Thomas Beatie, who is legally male but decided to keep his female sex organs during chest reconstruction surgery and testosterone therapy, attracted worldwide attention in April after revealing his pregnancy.The 34-year-old gave [...]

Stop it. Just stop it. You look stupid when you come out publicly with nonsense like this:

One hundred non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Selangor today handed to Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah a memorandum protesting against the administration of Islamic affairs in the state.

Some 200 representatives of the NGOs, led by Datuk Abdul Rahman Palil, handed the memorandum to the sultan s nava

I sometimes feel bad about how Sterne has changed from being a mostly creative enterprise with the occasional personal rumination thrown in when times were tough/good to being more or less an intermittent personal status update with the odd slice of hilarity/oddness posted (or reposted) for old time's sake. In the dead of night I do sometimes pine for the blog's golden days (roughly: October 2005)

I read a fascinating article about Bill Gates whilst on holiday.

It described him as an innovator whose time had past.

It sounds a bit harsh, I know, but it seemed less so in context.

Someone else who could be described in the same way is Howard Stringer the global boss of Sony.

Stringer had this to say recently about the innovative company behind two of the biggest category killers of the cen

1) Do you have the guts to answer these Qs?
No.2) What would you do if meth was legalized?
Go out of business.3) Abortion: for or against?
Upside-down.4) Would our country fail with a woman president?
Fingers crossed.5) Do you believe in the death penalty?
I think you'll find it's mandatory.6) Are you for or against premarital sex?
Sure, although I sometimes like to have dinner first.7) Do you thi

If you're looking for interesting images to use for presentations or anything else for that matter be sure to take a look at The Smithsonian collection on Flickr.

Some oustanding photos. Many of them of great historical interest.

Check it out here.

Once Were Punks...I've been reading The Story of Crass by George Berger (Omnibus, 2008). "The author", according to the blurb on the back cover, "has written for Sounds, Melody Maker and Amnesty International among others", and he reads like it too, unfortunately. I may write a review when I finish, but in the meantime, a few things stand out. One is the fact that, as B

That's what my nephew Willem called me last night when I sat down to knit in the evening. He laughed and said, 'Aunty Bells, you're a Knitting Head.'

Ah yes, Will. I am. And I rather like the title! He seems to have pretty much figured out that knitting is what I do.

And while we're on cute things, my mum sent me this photo a short while ago. He is visiting her today and she made him an apron an

In conjunction with the 2008 Next Wave Festival in Melbourne, Craft Victoria was pleased to be able to co-host Carly Preston's Paper Wall, a foray into 'craft in the public space' and a discussion on the relationship between interior and traditional craft methods.

We roped Carly into posting about her process:

Paper Wall is about generations, and more closely families and the passing down of kno

UPDATE: Ice - More Drug Myths Part II AMA Pushing Zero Tolerance

I recently wrote an article, Ice - More Drug Myths about the hysteria surrounding Ice and the non existent epidemic. The AMA has joined in with the hysteria and put out a position statement that is reminiscent of the sensationalist type stories usually left to the Daily Telegraph or the HeraldSun.
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Time for a touch of humour. If you're an American then this will probably make absolutely no sense whatsoever!You know you're Australian if..... 1. You believe that stubbies can be either drunk or worn. 2. You think it's normal to have a leader called Kevin. 3. When you hear that an American "roots for his team" you wonder how often and with whom. 4. You pronounce Melbourne as &#82

Ninja Gaiden II owners, Tecmo has stuff for you to buy. Today, three costume packs for Ryu Hayabusa went up on Xbox LIVE. The three packs (dubbed "Demon", "Shadow Walker", and "BioMetal") are 200 Microsoft Points a piece -- that's $US 2.50 in US money. Each pack contains five costumes variations on the pack's theme. So that works out to fifty cents an outfit. Way cheaper than real ninja clothes!

Micheal Kenna explores a meditative and silent world in black and white. His pictures are absent humanity but contain the urban, suburban and industrial components of human society. The landscapes are very contemplative in what are often very crowded areas. Kenna's work is in contrast to Alexey Titarenko's which are filled with layer upon layer of human movement in a public space. Kenna's work is

If you ever wished Christopher Hitchens could be tortured for his prose, if not his views, your wish just came true, in the nicest possible way.Hitchens, one of the cheerleaders for the US invasion of Iraq, wilfully bought the administration line, insisting a few months ago that waterboarding is not torture but merely "extreme interrogation" or what the administration likes to call &#

The Windows Sidebar gadget Optus Quota developed by Alexander Burton shows your OptusNet monthly quota both peak and off peak on your sidebar, updating statistics from the OptusNet feeds on the half hour.Download Optus Quota from the Windows Live Gallery

Stephen Totilo from MTV Multiplayer and I tag-teamed a Troll today. Multiple Trolls, actually, and dozens of Goblins, as we tackled Too Human's online multiplayer co-op mode. Having completed the core single player campaign last night -- it took me about 11 hours and change, for the record -- and whipping through the first chapter again with my Champion class Baldur, I was a pretty good candidate

As reported on the website of the Socialist Party's City of Yarra councilor Steve Jolly, the Yarra Council has approved $6000 funding from the new annual budget for the Smith St traders' association Businesses on Smith St (BOSS) to build a website while funding for a public toilet on Gertrude St was refused. What a complete waste of money.BOSS currently have no website because they are a useless b

While nothing's been confirmed, chances are pretty good that Nintendo will announce Animal Crossing Wii. Hey, it may not! We don't know, but like we said, chances are good. In the latest issue of the UK's official Official Nintendo Magazine, there's an image of Animal Crossing for the magazine's E3 promotion. A caption reads: It's Been A While! It's time to revisit an old friend. How's your villag

Okay, late last night I was a little hungry, but we were pretty much out of instant noodles. (We have the one packet left but I thought to save it for breakfast.) So I fried and scrambled four eggs + pepper, and made myself a mug of tea. When I was done it was about, um, midnight? 12.30? Anyway, when I was done I immediately went to bed. I couldn't sleep right away, though; it took me maybe half a

"As she felt herself blend into the scene it struck her that she hadn't changed a great deal either. She was drinking what she always drank, and sitting where she always sat, at the end of the bench that ran along the wall from the back corner to the fireplace. She was wearing the same brown jumper and walking boots she had habitually worn to the pub the year before, and although her jeans were te